2021 Mazda MAZDA3 - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2021 Mazda Mazda3 4 DR FWD has received an outstanding overall safety rating of 5 out of 5, indicating excellent crash test performance. In addition to its top-notch safety ratings, this vehicle is equipped with electronic stability control, forward collision warning, and lane departure warning as standard features, further enhancing its safety features and potentially preventing accidents. It's worth noting that this car has had 31 complaints filed and 1 recall, which shows that while it excels in safety, there have been some reported issues that the manufacturer has addressed. Overall, the Mazda3 presents itself as a reliable and safe option for drivers looking for a well-rounded vehicle in terms of safety and performance.

Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

31

Recall Count

1

Investigation Count

0

Safety Rating

5/5

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Safety Features

2021 Mazda Mazda3 4 DR FWD Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2021 Mazda Mazda3 4 DR FWD

Electronic Stability Control (ESC)

ESC is an advanced safety feature in vehicles designed to help drivers maintain control during challenging driving conditions. By continuously monitoring various factors such as steering angle, vehicle speed, and individual wheel speeds, ESC can detect and reduce the risk of skidding or loss of control. It achieves this by automatically applying brakes to specific wheels to stabilize the vehicle.

Standard
Forward Collision Warning (FCW)

Forward Collision Warning (FCW) is a safety feature in vehicles that helps prevent frontal collisions by alerting the driver of an imminent collision with a vehicle or obstacle ahead. Using sensors such as radar or cameras, FCW monitors the distance and speed of vehicles in front, and if it detects a potential collision, it provides visual and/or auditory warnings to prompt the driver to take evasive action.

Standard
Lane Departure Warning (LDW)

Lane Departure Warning (LDW) is a safety feature in vehicles that alerts drivers when their vehicle unintentionally drifts out of its lane without signaling. Utilizing cameras or sensors to monitor lane markings on the road, LDW detects when the vehicle crosses these lines and triggers visual, auditory, or haptic alerts to notify the driver of potential lane departure.

Standard

2021 Mazda Mazda3 4 DR FWD Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2021 Mazda Mazda3 4 DR FWD Where possible we've included the ratings for the oldest and latest models of this car so you can compare how the safety ratings have changed over time.

Frontal Crash Ratings

Combines Driver and Passenger star ratings into a single frontal rating. The frontal barrier test simulates a head-on collision between two similar vehicles, each moving at 35 mph.

Test 2005 Score 2021 Score 2024 Score
Overall Front Crash Rating Not Rated 5 5
Front Crash Driver Side Rating 4 5 5
Front Crash Passenger Side Rating 4 5 5

Side Crash Ratings

Combines Side Barrier and Side Pole Star Ratings into a single side rating.

Test 2005 Score 2021 Score 2024 Score
Overall Side Crash Rating Not Rated 5 5
Side Crash Drivers Side Rating 3 5 5
Side Crash Passenger Side Rating 3 5 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Front Not Rated 5 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Rear Not Rated 5 5
Overall Side Barrier Rating Not Rated 5 5

Rollover Ratings

The Rollover Resistance test measures the risk of rollover in a single-vehicle, loss-of-control scenario.

Test 2005 Score 2021 Score 2024 Score
Rollover Rating Not Rated 5 5
Rollover Possibility % 0% 0% 0%
Dynamic Tip Result No Tip No Tip
Side Pole Crash Rating Not Rated 5 5

Complaints for the 2021 Mazda MAZDA3

This chart show the number of complaints for each car component. A Higher number of complaints could indicate that this car might have a common fault. Something to look out for when purchasing one.

Component Complaints

Choose a component to see what complaints people have made about them.

Complaint:
"received low oil level warning ... checked engine oil and it is under the minimum level on the dip stick. car has only 11,725 miles"
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2023-05-04

Complaint:
"purchased car in january 2020 and within a month/few thousand miles the low engine oil light came on. almost two years later car continues to burn excessive oil triggering low engine oil light. dealer doesn’t acknowledge an issue, mazda still doesn’t have a repair. owners required to pay for excess servicing until a repair is issued. this is a widespread problem impacting the engine."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2022-05-02

Complaint:
"turbo using/burning oil- consumption issue."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2022-05-11

Complaint:
"oil light has come one twice within 17,000 miles of owner ship. the first time at 4,800 miles and the second at 17,529 miles, the most recent was only 3,500 miles since the last oil change."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2022-02-10

Complaint:
"after roughly 2,000 miles of driving, the low oil light comes on. the engine is burning oil. mazda has issued a tsb on it, but they have taken no action to fix the issue. right now they just top off the oil."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2022-05-06

Complaint:
"the engine is burning oil. oil and filter were changed at 5000 miles. at about 9000 miles, the engine oil level light came on. topped off with oil and took to dealer, they confirmed no oil leaks and changed the oil."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2022-01-07

Complaint:
"at around 3600 miles my mazda which i had for only a couple of months displayed a low engine oil light which required a visit to the dealership.this was under normal driving conditions."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2022-11-03

Complaint:
"my mazda 3 2.5t has been burning oil in excess. the car has a total of 24,000 miles and has been serviced 3 times. i have had to add oil in between every service. the oil has been completely burned off by 4,000-5,000 miles. i have noticed that other people have been posting about the same issues online. when talking to the dealership they state that they have noticed this issue with the 2.5t’s but offer no fix and seem to overfill the engine oil to try and compensate."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2023-02-06

Complaint:
"excess oil consumption in engine. low light came on around 5,000 miles and dipstick showed engine oil was at the minimum mark."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2024-03-06

Complaint:
"engine is consuming excessive oil. dealership states there is a tsb out but the fix is to keep topping the oil off. i would like an investigation to determine the root cause of the oil consumption on a new engine."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2024-03-06

Recalls for the 2021 Mazda MAZDA3

Component Recalls

Choose a component to see what recalls people have made about them.

Recall:
"mazda north american operations (mazda) is recalling certain 2021 mazda3 and cx-30 vehicles. air may suddenly leak from the tire air valve."
Consequence:
A sudden air leak from the tire air valve may cause a loss of vehicle control while driving, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy:

Mazda will notify owners, and dealers will replace all four tire air valves with new parts, free of charge. The recall began April 6, 2021. Owners may contact Mazda customer service at 1-800-222-5500 Option 4. Mazda's number for this recall is 4721B.

Component(s) Involved: TIRES > VALVE
Date of incident: 2021-02-22

MAZDA Overall Complaint Ranking

This table shows the ranking of car manufacturers when it comes to most complaints and recalls. The manufacturer with the most complaints is at the top. However this doesn't necassarily mean they should be avoided. Some manufacturers might just have more popular or affordable cars which a lot of people have bought. Which means there's more scope for a complaint to be made. Use the ranking table below as a part your wider research into buying a car.

MAZDA ranks 16 out of 44 in the complaints ranking table.

Manufacturer Complaint Count Recall Count Ranking
FORD 208,358 3,259 1
CHEVROLET 111,306 2,082 2
TOYOTA 81,019 1,852 3
HONDA 61,937 1,268 4
NISSAN 56,226 930 5
DODGE 45,756 827 6
HYUNDAI 44,150 649 7
GMC 34,441 1,410 8
KIA 29,832 501 9
CHRYSLER 27,698 254 10
TESLA 26,230 730 11
BMW 24,890 1,877 12
VOLKSWAGEN 23,125 829 13
MERCEDES-BENZ 19,066 2,925 14
SUBARU 18,513 703 15
MAZDA 10,599 364 16
PONTIAC 10,430 138 17
CADILLAC 9,434 444 18
AUDI 7,865 1,093 19
BUICK 7,851 279 20
SATURN 7,672 84 21
MERCURY 7,374 135 22
LEXUS 6,373 408 23
LINCOLN 5,897 423 24
ACURA 5,722 382 25
MINI 5,585 366 26
INFINITI 4,000 187 27
MITSUBISHI 3,912 397 28
VOLVO 3,875 727 29
PORSCHE 2,646 1,231 30
SUZUKI 2,272 123 31
FIAT 2,205 80 32
SAAB 1,536 76 33
JAGUAR 1,195 198 34
SMART 528 17 35
GENESIS 436 42 36
ISUZU 249 37 37
ALFA ROMEO 161 37 38
MASERATI 76 46 39
BENTLEY 46 159 40
POLESTAR 42 2 41
LUCID 14 6 42
CODA 4 2 43
MAYBACH 0 0 44

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